Chapter 22: The Troubles

The lights in Ponyville twinkled brightly in the dark evening. They sang of hope and relief to the tired seven who emerged from the Everfree Forest. Twilight managed to crack her eyes open. She bounced up and down on Rainbow Dash’s back and her head was throbbing like someone had decided it would be a good idea to light a bonfire in her brain. Even still, she smiled at the comforting lights and then closed her eyes in rest.

“We need to get to a hospital, ASAP,” Applejack told the others. The hard working farmer moved along as gently as possible for Rarity’s sake.

The white unicorn shifted and grimaced as she rode on Fluttershy and Applejack’s backs. While the others all had cuts, scrapes, and bruises from their tussle, Rarity’s wound was much more severe. The gash on her side was large. The blood had dried by now, but it was still unsettling to look at. The thick clothing she had worn was tattered, shredded, and now dyed red. Her eyes were closed and she had yet to talk.

“Look!” exclaimed Pinkie. She pointed to a large, white building filled with windows. Many of the lights were on. It glimmered like a ray of sunshine in a dark world. “There’s the hospital!”

“Come on y’all!” Applejack urged the others along. “Jus’ a little further.”

The group all seemed to brighten up as they came closer to the hospital. Their faces might have been bruised and their eyes tired, but never before had they been so joyful to enter a hospital.

The front door swung open and the seven friends walked inside. The main lobby was relatively quiet. Only one or two other ponies were lying around on couches, waiting to see a doctor. One of them coughed, sniffled, and wiped her nose.

The Royal Treasure Seekers carefully set Twilight and Rarity down on the couches. Then, they moved over to the front desk. The desk worker looked up from her paperwork and gasped.

“Goodness me!” she cried as her eyes looked over the battered ponies. “What have you all been up to?”

“Mam’,” stated Applejack. “We had a run in with some timberwolves. Our friend needs some medical aid immediately.” Applejack stepped out of the way and the worker got a look a Rarity, lying on the couch.

The desk worker gasped again and brought a concerned hoof up to cover her mouth.

“Miss Featherplume,” said a gentle voice from behind the ponies, “I’m heading out for the evening. Tell Doctor Pane that I said- HOLY HOT TAMALES! What have you ponies been up to?!” A kindly unicorn stallion, dressed in a doctor’s garb, trotted over to the front desk. His eyes scanned over the group with worry.

“Oh! Doctor Heartseed!” the desk worker, Fleatherplume, cried. “Thank goodness that you’re here! These ponies were attacked by timberwolves.”

“Timberwovles?!” replied Heartseed with shock. “You five had better come with me.”

“Um, sir?” Fluttershy said. “There’s actually seven of us.” She pointed at Twilight and Rarity.

Doctor Heartseed’s eyes went wide. “We need to get them into a hospital room. Miss Featherplume, come and help me move these two.”

“Right away, Doctor!” Featherplume pushed aside a swinging door and quickly made her way over to the Doctor.

It was hard to tell from behind the desk, but Featherplume was a pegasus. She looked Twilight over with her gentle blue eyes and then lifted the purple unicorn onto her back. Her soft pink wings held Twilight steady. Featherplume brushed aside any of her brunette hair that fell over Twilight’s mouth.

Doctor Heartseed nodded to Featherplume and picked up Rarity in a levitation spell. His steady brown eyes looked at her caringly. His strong, orange hind legs began a quick walk further into the hospital. He motioned for Applejack and the others to follow him with a flick of his black tail.

The Royal Treasure Seekers followed without uttering a word. They wound down a long hallway and hung a right. The seven soon found themselves in a large, open room. Featherplume was lying Twilight down in a soft bed and Doctor Heartseed soon did the same with Rarity.

The room was plain. It held two beds, with light blue sheets, and was painted a comforting shade of purple. The floor was tiled and there was a window set in the far left wall. A curtain separated the two beds, but was pulled back at the moment. Each bed also had an end table sitting beside it.

The Royal Treasure Seekers, those still walking at any rate, moved up to Doctor Heartseed.

“Miss Featherplume, I’ll be a while in here,” the Doctor said. “Could you make sure nopony disturbs me?”

“Of course,” Featherplume replied. She nodded and then walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“Now,” Heartseed turned his attention to the mares surrounding him, “timberwolves you say?”

“That’s right,” Applejack replied. She bowed her head and looked down at the floor. The fight was still fresh on her mind. “It sure wasn’t pretty. We barely managed to get out of the Everfree Forest.”

“Hmm…” Doctor Heartseed mumbled. He turned his attention to Rarity. As he inspected her, he continued to speak to the others. “The Everfree Forest? I wonder whatever you could have been doing in there?” he said with a glint in his eye.

“Actually, we were looking for Sun Cloak’s treasure!” Pinkie told him.

Heartseed’s gaze continued to look Rarity over evenly. “Yes…I thought as much.”

The others were a bit surprised at his mild reaction.

“Now…” the Doctor turned from Rarity. He met Applejack’s eyes. “I think that your friend is going to be ok.” The Royal Treasure Seekers let out a sigh of relief. “It was lucky that she had on all that clothing, it stopped the bleeding before it got too serious. However, some of the cloth is also lodged in the wound. I need to remove it.”

“But,” Spike lifted a hand. Heartseed looked at the baby dragon. “She’s going to be ok?”

Heartseed smiled kindly. “Yes, Spike, she’ll be fine. In fact, with my medical skills, and a pinch of magic, the scarring shouldn’t even be visible. But, she took a nasty blow from a timberwolf. There’s a good chance that the wound has already been infected. I will need to keep Rarity here for a few days.”

Fluttershy’s facial expressions changed with each word the doctor said.

“Now, wait just one minute.” Rainbow Dash lifted an accusing hoof up to the kind Doctor’s face. “How did you know their names? We never told you Rarity or Spike’s name.”

Doctor Heartseed only smiled again. He gently pushed Dash’s hoof down and then moved over to inspect Twilight.

“Hey! Answer my ques-!”

“Rainbow Dash, please, I am inspecting a patient,” Heartseed hushed Rainbow.

Dash’s jaw dropped open and she stood with a blank look on her face as Heartseed looked over Twilight. His competent hooves felt around her head and neck. His eyes grew quite large as he came near her horn.

“How much magic has she been using?” He practically shouted.

“Will she be alright?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well…yes.” Doctor Heartseed replied slowly. “But.” He turned around to face the mares. “I wouldn’t recommend her using magic again for a few days. Also, she’s going to have a splitting headache when she wakes up. I’ll get some pain medication for her when I get the chance. She’s going to need it.”

Spike’s lip quivered and his eyes watered up. He looked at Rarity and then at Twilight. The only motion he could see was their chests breathing in and out. He walked over to the room’s window, pulled up a stool, and sat down. He looked out at the town. Then, he lowered his head into his lap and began to sob.

The mares were busy talking with Doctor Heartseed, but Fluttershy noticed. She walked over to Spike and placed a comforting hoof around his neck. She began to cry too.

“It’ll be ok,” she managed to whisper after a few minutes. “They’ll both be ok.”

Spike looked into Fluttershy’s eyes, but he didn’t stop crying. “I know,” he replied. “But I just feel so…useless.”

“Don’t say that.”

“No! I will say that!” Spike replied vehemently. “It’s my fault!”

“Spike!” Fluttershy was shocked. “This wasn’t your fault!”

By now, the others had taken notice. They walked over to the blurry eyed duo. Pinkie Pie threw her hooves around them both.

“Please don’t cry,” Pinkie whispered. “Twilight and Rarity are in good hooves.”

“That’s not what this is about!” Spike threw Pinkie’s hoof off his shoulder and looked away.

“Spike,” Fluttershy pleaded, “this isn’t your fault.”

“Yes it is.” He covered his face with his claws.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “You don’t have the right to say that!” She spun the little dragon around and pried his hands away from his eyes so that he was looking right into her face. “If this is anyone’s fault…” She choked up, but held back the tears. “…it’s mine!”

“RD-” Applejack started.

“I don’t wanna hear it AJ!” Rainbow shouted. “If we would have left on time like Twilight wanted, then we wouldn’t be in this mess! It’s my fault that we left late. I…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” The tears began to fall freely from Dash’s eyes.

“But that shouldn’t matter!” Spike yelled back. Rainbow Dash looked up and met his gaze. Spike was no longer crying, but was standing on his stool. “I’m a dragon! A dragon! I may not know much about dragon culture, but one thing I do know: dragons are supposed to be tough and strong and brave! And…And I wasn’t!” He started crying again. “When we were attacked I was hiding!  Instead of defending my friends, I was cowering. Even Fluttershy was quicker to hold her ground than I was.”

“But ya’ did help,” Applejack was quick to respond. “You were the one who tackled that white wolf to the ground.”

“Yeah,” snorted Spike angrily, “a fat lot of good that did.”

Applejack was taken aback.

“Do you know what happened during the fight?” Spike continued quietly. His head was down and he wasn’t looking anypony in the eye. “He won. He pinned me. So, I tried breathing fire. I figured, you know, that it would scare him or burn him or something. But…But it didn’t. And then do you know what happened?” Spike paused and a tear fell to the ground. “He laughed at me! Laughed! Like I was a big joke. What good is being a dragon if I can’t defend my friends?”

The room was quiet, but for the sound of sniffling noses and shuffling hooves.

“And that, Spike, is where you are most certainly wrong.” Doctor Heartseed’s calming voice boomed into the silence. The doctor lifted Spike’s head until the dragon’s eyes were looking into Heartseed’s smiling face. “I’m going to prove to you that being a dragon is exactly what your friends need at this very moment.”

Spike wiped a tear from his eyes. He was confused, but he didn’t turn away.

“I will also explain to Rainbow Dash how I know all of your names,” Heartseed continued. The mares wiped their eyes and noses, ready to listen. “Now, what you may not hear often is talk of you six mares. But believe me, you are the pride of Ponyville. Everypony here knows of your great deeds: Nightmare Moon, Discord, the Changeling debacle in Canterlot, we know about all of it.”

“Y-You do?” Fluttershy asked.

“Of course I do! I read the newspaper,” replied the Doctor. “In fact, I’m sure that a lot of ponies in Ponyville know your names. But, this is getting us off topic. This hunt that you’re all involved in, Sun Cloak’s treasure hunt, is all over the news. Beyond even that, almost all of the seven teams are known to all of Equestria.

Anypony who’s anypony has been reading about your travels. Every day the papers report new developments: team sightings, possible locations where you’ll travel next, conspiracy theories, who they predict will win, the list goes on and on!”

“Ooo! You hear that? We’re famous!” Pinkie said.

“Took ‘em long enough,” Rainbow Dash huffed.

“Now, hold up,” Applejack replied. “What does the media have to do with this? We’ve done some pretty big stuff and it’s never affected us before.”

“The media has a lot to do with it,” Heartseed declared. “You see, the media has created incredible amounts of hype about this treasure hunt. Sun Cloak’s Equestria-wide message was amazing publicity and the media has jumped on this treasure trove of a story. The papers are sold out every single day. Even I keep up with the ‘Great Hunt’. Everypony does! So listen here, if the media finds out that you’re in Ponyville, you’ll get swarmed.”

Fluttershy gasped. The other’s eyes went wide.

“But what does being a dragon have to do with it?” Spike asked.

“I was just getting to that,” Hearseed replied. “You see Spike, the news is a few days behind your travels. Beyond even that, they don’t know everything. One of things they still don’t know is whether or not you’re a part of one of the teams.

Most everypony in Ponyville knows you’re Twilight’s helper, and that’s as much as the media knows too. If your friends walk out into Ponyville without disguises, the reporters and fans will swarm them. But you, Spike, are perfectly situated to help.

Nopony knows if you’re part of a team and you’re also a dragon. Most ponies, except those in Ponyville, will keep their distance from a dragon. You can walk into town without fear of being mobbed. That means that your friends will need you to get supplies and help them communicate with each other.”

“Wait,” Rainbow Dash said. “So if we go out into public, we’re going to get mobbed?” She kicked at the floor. “Man! Being famous stinks!”

Heartseed chuckled. “Oh don’t worry. I’m sure that when this treasure hunt is over you’ll be able to go back to your normal lives. But, as long as the media keeps up the hype, you need to be careful in town.”

“Hayseed!” Applejack stamped a hoof on the ground.

“What’s wrong Applejack?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Earlier today we were jus’ sittin’ at the Clover Café. Some ponies already know that we’re in town.”

“Oh, that’s not good,” Doctor Heartseed replied. He began to pace back and forth. “You’ll most likely have reporters and fans coming to knock on your front doors in about a day. There might even be some looking for you right now.”

“What do we do?” Fluttershy asked.

“You’ll need to hide,” said the Doctor. “You can’t stay in your houses. Everypony knows where you live.”

“So then,” Spike spoke, “my job is pretty important.”

“Yes it is Spike,” Heartseed replied with a smile.

“Then consider it done!” shouted the dragon happily. “I won’t let you girls down!”

“I know ya’ won’t.” Applejack patted him on the back.

“But where are we supposed to hide?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Not even the sky is safe! And we’re certainly not hiding in the Everfree Forest.”

“For tonight I can let you stay in this room,” Heartseed said. “Besides, I’d like to get those cuts of your treated. However, you can’t stay here forever.”

“Why not?” asked Pinkie.

“Because,” Heartseed turned to the pink pony, “if Spike starts carrying in a boatload of food and games, ponies are going to get suspicious. However, I can keep Rarity and Twilight in here without arousing any suspicions. I’ll keep their presence in this hospital on the down low. They need plenty of rest to recover and getting bombarded by reporters will not help them.”

“Thank ya’ Doctor Heartseed,” Applejack nodded respectfully. “That’s mighty kind of ya’, but I have jus’ one question. Why are ya’ helpin’ us like this?”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Heartseed smiled. “I’m rooting for your team.”

* * * * * * * * *

The beautiful rays of morning sunlight fell down into Ponyville. On the edge of town, a small motel in the Trotts-Along hotel chain held a group of sleepy unicorns. Well, some of them were sleepy at any rate.

“Cumulus!” giggled Rose Shine. She poked the snoring stallion on the cheek. “Get up sleepy! We’re going into the Everfree Forest today!”

Cumulus kicked around on his hard bed and snorted. He cracked an eye open and immediately saw Rose’s sweet, smiling face. He blinked his eyes and stretched.

“Morning already?” he said. His voice was still groggy.

He looked around at the small room he and his friends had been able to get for the night. Cumulus had taken the bed closest to the door, the one at the far right side of the room. Sun Chaser was closest to the room’s only window, on the far left side. Next to Chaser, in the middle-left, was Sight Seer. Which left the middle-right bed for Rose Shine.

There was one table in the room, between the two middlemost beds. It held a small lamp, some paper, and a quill. There was one cabinet in the room where extra bed sheets had been placed in case any motel patrons desired to use them. The bathroom was opposite Cumulus’ bed. The walls in the room had green striped wallpaper, which matched the color of the bed sheets.

All in all, space was tight. However, the Society of Sun was somehow able manage. Each one had placed their saddlebags somewhere around the room. Sun Chaser put his under his bed, Sight Seer placed his by his bed, Rose Shine set hers by the cabinet, and Cumulus just sort of dumped his bag somewhere. He didn’t really know where at this moment.

“So…” Cumulus yawned and slid out of bed. “…what time is it exactly?”

“It’s 6:30,” Sun Chaser replied. The group’s leader slowly walked over to Cumulus. “AM to be precise.”

“6:30 AM!?” Cumulus roared. “Why in Equestria am I up that early!?”

“Shhhhh…” Sight Seer whispered. The lanky stallion was busy tightening his saddlebag. “Do you want to wake the other guests?”

“Other guests!?” shouted Cumulus furiously.

“Shhh…” Rose and Chaser both hushed Cumulus at the same time.

Cumulus blushed slightly. “Other guests?” he whispered.

“Yes,” replied Sun Chaser quietly. He too, walked over to his bed and slung his bag over his shoulder. “It’s very early in the morning and there are other guests sleeping behind these paper thin walls. It’s quite rude to wake them by shouting.”

“No pony should be up at this ghastly hour!” replied Cumulus. “And that includes me!”

“Now. Now. Cumulus,” Rose teased. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us. Besides, we said that we would start for the Everfree Forest bright and early. Remember?”

“And you!” Cumulus threw a pointing hoof at Rose. “If anypony should be sleeping right now, it’s you! You were just in the Dragonlands for crying out loud! You should be resting and recuperating!”

“Oh yeah.” Rose rolled her eyes and picked up her saddlebag. “Like I’d miss on today’s adventure. We’re going to the castle where Sun Cloak met with Princess Celestia! There’s no way I’d miss that!”

“Wait. We’re- And- Castle?” Cumulus blubbered. His hoof came to rest on the ground. The others turned to face the stubby unicorn; they were all packed and ready to roll. “Then what are we waiting for!? Let’s get a move on!” Cumulus ran over to the door.

“Um,” Sight Seer said. “Don’t you want your saddlebag first?”

Sun Chaser had found Cumulus’ pack and threw it to him. Cumulus turned around a second too late and it smacked him in the face.

“Thanks,” mumbled Cumulus.

* * * * * * * * *

The ground beneath the hooves of the Society of Sun was cool in the Everfree Forest. A gentle breeze rippled through the leaves and whipped around the ponies’ hair. Even in the morning, the Forest was somewhat dark with all of its thick foliage. The unicorns had been traveling for about an hour. They had lost sight of Ponyville quickly.

“So, Chaser,” said Sight Seer, “where exactly is this castle again?”

The clip clap of hooves against hard earth could be heard with every step.

“To be completely honest,” Sun Chaser replied, “I have no idea.”

“You what?!” roared Cumulus. The stubby stallion ran in front of Chaser and stopped. “You mean to tell us that you dragged us into this Forest without even knowing where we’re going?”

Chaser smiled and then brushed past the upset Cumulus. “No. I know exactly where we’re going,” teased the leader. “We’re going to the castle. It’ll just be a little bit of an adventure getting there.”

Rose Shine chuckled. “This isn’t like you Chaser.” Rose pulled up beside him as they walked along. “You’re usually so organized!”

“It’s not like I didn’t try to do some research,” Chaser defended. “But there really aren’t any maps of the Everfree Forest in Canterlot. Few ponies dare to even come into here now days. Much less any map makers.”

Cumulus’ stomach growled.

“What happened?” asked Rose Shine.

“I’m hungry,” replied Cumulus grumpily.

“No,” said Rose, “I mean, what happened to the Forest? Sun Cloak obviously came in here and even Princess Celestia lived in here hundreds of years ago.”

“That’s a good question,” Sight Seer said. “I don’t know much, but I’m sure from that grin on Chaser’s face that he knows something.”

The others turned to face Sun Chaser.

“Well,” Chaser said, “how about we stop here for breakfast and I’ll tell you what I know?”

“If food’s involved, then I’m all for it!” Cumulus agreed heartily.

The ponies cleared some leaves off of the floor and found suitable places to sit. Cumulus found a large stump and rolled it over for Rose to sit on. It made her smile, and her smile made Cumulus blush.

They all opened their saddlebags and pulled out what they had packed for breakfast. Most had packed oats of some kind, but Rose had managed to buy a few leafy greens the day before. They all munched away happily, but looked at Chaser expectantly.

“I suppose I’ll begin then,” he said between bites. He swallowed down a mouthful of oats. “I think I’ll start with something that we’re all familiar with. You all know that Sun Cloak came to the castle in the Everfree Forest where Princess Celestia honored him for his service in the Third Dragon War. What you may not know is that when Sun Cloak came in, it was not called the Everfree Forest but the Evergreen Forest.

Back in Sun Cloak’s day this Forest was just as magical and mysterious as today, but not nearly as dangerous. The Evergreen Forest was hailed as one of the natural wonders of the world. It was a place where unique and incredible magic flowed freely, unlike anywhere else in Equestria. Perhaps that is why Princess Celestia and Princess Luna decided to build their old castle here countless years ago.

Because of the Forest’s affinity for unique and strange magic, it became a hotbed for magical research. Highly esteemed scientists and magicians from all over Equestria once came to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters where they would perform their research.

It was during the Forest’s hay day that Sun Cloak, along with many others from the Third Dragon War, was invited to come. Princess Celestia was reigning alone at that time. It must have been difficult for her to continue living in the castle where she had banished her own sister to the moon from.

But regardless, Princess Celestia held a grand ball for the victors of the War. There was plenty of food and dancing as they celebrated the defeat of the dragons after three years of border fights. However, the merrymaking and research in the Evergreen Forest would soon come to an end.

It was, from my best estimate, around 40 years after Sun Cloak visited Princess Celestia that something terrible happened. A group of researchers from Old Trottington came into the Forest with high hopes and great ambition. But, their meddling would change the Forest forever.

Nopony knows what exactly they did, because none of them survived. But, whatever they did, it destroyed a fragile balance in the free magic of the Evergreen. Suddenly, the Evergreen began to act strangely. No longer was it a safe place to perform research. Instead, bizarre creatures unlike any ever seen before began to emerge. These creatures were deadly and wild. Even the Forest’s plants began to act in strange manners. And that’s to say nothing about how the magic changed.

Needless to say, the Evergreen became a place of great peril for all who entered. Princess Celestia, fearing for the lives of the researchers and other visitors, made the difficult decision to leave the Evergreen and build a new castle.

She left the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters and cautioned against entering the Evergreen until the Forest became tamer. At that time, Canterlot was still rebuilding after facing a terrible earthquake years before. So, Princess Celestia decided that she would have a new castle built on the mountain city. That is what we know today as Canterlot Castle.

However, some ponies decided against the Princess’ advice. They went in; attempting to fix whatever had caused the Forest to lash out. The few that came out, came out with stories of horrors the likes of which had never been heard of before. In order to calm the masses, the League of Science placed a quarantine on the Evergreen Forest. However, by this time, the Forest had been given a new name by those who heard the terrible stories: the Everfree Forest.

Year after year, the League sent in scientists to see if the Forest had become calm again, but to no avail. After near on 30 years, the League finally stopped sending ponies in. The Everfree was warned against as a place of extreme peril and ponies were warned to keep their distance.

Perhaps that is why it confuses me why Princess Celestia allowed Ponyville to be built so close to the Forest. But, after living there for who knows how many year, maybe she knows things that even we don’t. After all, Ponyville is thriving. Maybe the Forest has finally settled down.

Whatever the case, it is ironic that the Everfree Forest is technically still under quarantine. The League of Science was disbanded 150 years ago and they forgot to lift the ban on the Forest.

Unfortunately, that’s all I know about the Everfree. Ponies don’t come in here to do research anymore. So I don’t have any way of knowing what we’ll face. I don’t know about the plants, animals, or magic that we could encounter. All I know is that in order to get to Sun Cloak’s treasure we have to brave the Everfree Forest.”

Cumulus swallowed hard on his last bit of food and Sight Seer had stopped eating. He was deep in thought. But Rose Shine seemed strangely calm.

“Tell me why again we’re in here again?” Cumulus asked. He turned his head at every twig that snapped and bug that chirped.

“To solve Sun Cloak’s next puzzle!” Rose Shine replied. “What fun is a treasure hunt without any adventure?”

“Rose, you scare me sometimes,” Sight Seer said. “But. I trust Chaser. We’ve been friends for as long as I can remember and he’s never lead me wrong before.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence.” Sun Chaser smiled and nodded. “Now, just let me finish my breakfast and we can get going.”

As Chaser munched on his food, an annoying buzzing sound came near Cumulus’ ears. He waved his hooves in the air and turned his head, trying to find the source of the buzzing.

“Shoo! Shoo! You pesky bug!” Cumulus yelled.

The noise stopped and Cumulus breathed out a sigh of relief. Then he heard, “Oh! How cute!” Cumulus turned to Rose Shine. A small, round creature with bug-like wings and big eyes was hovering around the mare. It was blue with green eyes.

The bug-thing danced playfully around her head. Rose laughed. Then, the creature’s stomach rumbled. It looked at Rose Shine with it’s big, pleading eyes.

“You hungry, little guy?” Rose asked the bug. The bug seemed to nod. Rose reached into her saddlebag and pulled out some fruit she had been saving for lunch.

“Rose? What are you doing?” Cumulus asked. “What is that thing?”

“He’s hungry,” Rose replied. She handed the bug an apple. The round creature looked it over for a moment and then devoured the entire fruit in mere seconds.

“Whoa!” Sight Seer exclaimed. “He must be really hungry.”

Rose Shine turned to Seer. “I guess so.” She then turned back to the bug, only to find that there were now two. The other one was pink and also had big, pleading eyes.

“Oh!” Rose gasped. “Now where did you come from?” She pointed at the pink one. “Are you hungry too?” The pink creature buzzed around Rose’s head happily. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” She got out another apple and laid it on the ground. Again, it was devoured before her eyes.

“Rose, are you sure that feeding them is such a good idea?” Seer asked.

“There’s only two of them. What’s the harm?” Rose turned to Seer.

“Um…” Chaser mumbled with food in his mouth. “Don’t you mean four?”

Rose Shine turned back around and, sure enough, there were four of the cute creatures. “What? Where did these two come from?”

One of the round bugs belched out something brown. It hovered in the air for a second and then formed into one of the bugs.

“Gahh!!!” screamed Rose. “What are these things?!”

Two of the five bugs flew over to Sun Chaser. The stallion had a hoof full of oats and was bringing it up to his mouth. The two creatures devoured the food before he even had a chance to taste it. His teeth bit into his own hoof.

“Ooo!!! Ow! Ow! Ow!” He shook his hoof. It was throbbing slightly. “What was that?”

More of the cute creatures began to appear around the four adventurers. They zipped around the ponies’ heads. If even one caught a glimpse of food, they would gobble it down before the unicorns even had time to react.

“C-Creatures from the Everfree Forest!!!” yelped Cumulus. “When we run out of food they’ll eat us!!!”

“Ahhhhhh!!!!” screamed the entire group.

“Quick! Retreat! Run away!” Sun Chaser shouted.

The four got to their hooves and began to sprint in the direction they had come from. They didn’t close up their saddlebags, and the top flaps flailed around as they ran. The round creatures followed them, however. The Society of Sun screamed. They would turn their heads around from time to time, only to see the creature’s cute, green eyes mere feet away.

“We’ll run all the way back to Ponyville if we have to!” Sun Chaser shouted to his group. The others nodded in agreement.

Through the thick Forest ran the Society. They past large trees and jumped through dense bushes, but the creatures were still hot on their tails. The unicorns even ran through a large patch of very peculiar blue flowers. The flowers almost seemed to laugh whenever one of the ponies touched them, but the Society of Sun had no time to waste. Onward they galloped until at last they could see Ponyville.

They burst out of the Everfree with all the speed they could muster. Worn from the extended sprint, the ponies came to a halt and took in large breaths.

“There…” Sun Chaser panted. “…we made…it. We’re…safe.”

But, the creatures followed them out of the Everfree Forest! They landed on Sun Chaser’s back. “Gah!!!” He screamed and tried to buck them off. “Get off! Get off!”

“Quick girls!” shouted a female voice. “We’ve got trouble!”

Four mares came rushing over to the Society of Sun. They each had various instruments strapped on them.

“And a one, and a two, and one, two, three…” A cream colored mare with green eyes and two toned red hair counted off. Suddenly, all four mares began a cheery polka.

The little bugs became caught up in the music and flew over to the mares. The four ponies lead the creatures back into the Everfree and then retreated out as quickly as possible.

“Whew!” sighed the cream mare. “Crisis averted.” She wiped her brow.

The Society of Sun stared at the strange performers and blinked.

“Uh…thanks,” Sight Seer said.

“Sure!” replied the cream mare. “That’s what we’re here for.”

“And…who are you exactly?” Sun Chaser asked.

“Oh! Silly me!” exclaimed the lead mare. “I’m Rose Luck.” She pointed to herself. “On the accordion is Bon-Bon.” She pointed to another cream mare, but this one had pink and blue hair. “On the tuba is Lyra Heartstrings.” A sea-foam green unicorn with amber eyes smiled and waved. “And on the cymbals is Lily.” Rose Luck nodded to a pink mare with blond hair. “Together we’re the Ponyville Philharmonic Protectors! And it’s a plum peachy pleasure to meet you.”

“The Ponyville Protectors?” Sun Chaser repeated. “You mean you keep the town safe from those things?” He pointed back to the Everfree Forest.

“Yep!” Rose Luck nodded. “Those pesky pilferers are called parasprites. Ever since a plethora of perky ponies showed up in search of Sun Cloak’s treasure, they’ve been bringing them into Ponyville. The playful pests plundered our food! So we, the Ponyville Philharmonic Protectors, formed together to chase the persnickety parasprites out of Ponyville.”

“Uh…I see,” Chaser said. “Well, thank you again. I don’t think we’ll be heading back in there for a while.”

“Probably a good idea.” Rose Luck nodded. “Those parasprites prefer to puruse the parameter of the Everfree for a few hours after being brought back in.”

“I see,” Chaser said. “Well team,” he turned to face his friends, “it looks like we’ll be stuck in Ponyville the rest of the day then. We’ll have to try again tomorrow.”

“Aww…” whined Rose Shine.

“Thank goodness,” sighed Cumulus.

The Society slowly walked back to their motel.

Next Chapter: Chapter 23: The Show Estimated time remaining: 19 Minutes